2 excellent Plantagenet Books!

[LionPride32]

Greetings to all,

I recently got my hands on 2 books specifically about the Plantagenet family of monarchs, who , in my opinion, were the greatest of all kings and the true stars of the High Middle Ages.

The first book I acquired is "The Plantagenet Chronicles", by Derek Wilson which covers every king from Henry II to Richard III. This book is AMAZING!! It has tons of detailed info and a LOT of pictures from manuscripts over various centuries in the middle ages.

The second book is simply titled, "The Plantagenets" by Dan Jones, which is a bestseller if I'm not mistaken. Not as many pictures in this one, but it's a slightly easier read and packed with information.

I definetly recommend checking them out!






The second b

[Ian]

Also my favorite line of Royals!  I'll have to check these out.

[Sir Douglas]

I think I may have recently seen The Plantagenet Chronicles at the Half Price Book store. I'll have to see if it's still there the next time I'm up that way.

[Sir Rodney]

I’ll second your recommendation of “The Plantagenet Chronicles" by Derek Wilson.

I was familiar with just bits and pieces until this book helped me put it all together chronologically.  There were some messed up dudes in that bunch!   

[Sir Nate]

Do These books at all cover how the kings of that time Lived? Daily lives and things of that sort. Ive recently Decided I need to Learn more on medieval culture and overall Lifestyle, Not just Crusades, Battles in Eras, Arms and armor, etc.
Ill also get these to expand my knowledge of Kings of that time.

[Don Jorge]

Hapsbergs all the way? Sorry I am biased...one of my favorite professors taught a whole class on them...

[Ian]

Do These books at all cover how the kings of that time Lived? Daily lives and things of that sort. Ive recently Decided I need to Learn more on medieval culture and overall Lifestyle, Not just Crusades, Battles in Eras, Arms and armor, etc.
Ill also get these to expand my knowledge of Kings of that time.

For material culture and daily lives of all three estates (if you're unfamiliar, the three estates of medieval culture are the Nobility, the Church and Everyone Else), I would recommend these two books for Anglo-Centric 14th c study:

Daily Life in Chaucer's England
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England

[Mike W.]

The books by Joseph and Francis Gies are a good introductory source. Though not written by academic historians, the books do provide a very good overview, simple, and short.

[Sir Nate]

Do These books at all cover how the kings of that time Lived? Daily lives and things of that sort. Ive recently Decided I need to Learn more on medieval culture and overall Lifestyle, Not just Crusades, Battles in Eras, Arms and armor, etc.
Ill also get these to expand my knowledge of Kings of that time.

For material culture and daily lives of all three estates (if you're unfamiliar, the three estates of medieval culture are the Nobility, the Church and Everyone Else), I would recommend these two books for Anglo-Centric 14th c study:

Daily Life in Chaucer's England
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England

Ya, I know the life of the church back then, but have only recently brushed on nobility and commoners. I also want to know more on the cereal they had. I think I may go with the first, eventually both. Yet Im going to be working next week, Ill put it on my list.

The books by Joseph and Francis Gies are a good introductory source. Though not written by academic historians, the books do provide a very good overview, simple, and short.

Sounds good for me.

[Sir William]

The Wilson book is not available for Kindle; grrrrrr.

[Sir Nate]

The Wilson book is not available for Kindle; grrrrrr.

You know I once said the difference between a book and nook/ kindle is that I can't pick up a 100 year old nook, open it has blow dust off of it and begin reading.

[Mike W.]

You also can't get used $30 e-books at a library basement sale for $1.

[LionPride32]

The Plantagenet books do cover as much as their daily lives as a book on a family empire could. If you want to focus on one specific monarch, there are countless biographies on most of the best ones. Richard I is again my favorite, the facts, not so much the fantasy aspect of him. The Angevin Empire just totally blows me away, being king of england plus Duke of Aquitaine, Normandy, Anjou and Potiers, I believe. So much property, so little time! As far as good factual fiction, the Sharon K. Penman novels are fantastic. I'm reading "A King's Ransom" now and it kicks so much arse.